SEOUL – South Korea said Monday that it will tighten quarantine inspections from a U.S. slaughterhouse that was subject to a recall because of E. coli concerns.

The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has reportedly said that all ground beef imports from Nebraska Beef Ltd. are to be checked for E. coli O157:H7 for the following five import shipments.

Nebraska Beef has recalled about 1.2 million pounds of ground beef products after a outbreaks in several states were linked to the meat.

The ministry also said that it asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide updated information about the recall and what countermeasures have been taken to prevent E. coli from getting into the food chain.

The action follows months of public unrest after the South Korean government agreed to completely open up its market to U.S. beef imports. Local anti-U.S. beef import groups to have reportedly accused the government of not doing enough to protect the country from unsafe meat.

Source: Yonhap News Agency